You are cordially invited to participate in a two-day discussion at the Ateneum Art Museum. The discussion is open to the general public and will be in English.

Tuesday, 27 September 2011, 1–6 pm

The Situation of the Roma and Other Migrants in Finland and Europe, with the Focus on Social Housing Projects
Public discussion with representatives of the Roma community from Helsinki and the Balkans, politicians, architects, theorists and artists.

Wednesday, 28 September 2011, 6–8 pm
What Can We Learn from 20th Century Social Housing Projects?

Concluding speech on migration policy and the urgent need for social housing today.
Presentation of the World Communal Heritage Helsinki project, and discussion.

Participants:
Miranda Vuolasranta (vice-chairman of the European Roma and Travellers Forum and Finnish Association of Roma Forum, Helsinki), Dejan Marković (Roma politician, activist, adviser for Roma and minority issues, Agency for Human and Minority Rights, Government of Serbia), Lidija Mirković (artist, Germany), Silvia Modig (member of the Finnish Parliament, City Planning Board,  chairman of the Vaahteramäki ry), Thomas Wallgren ( Member of Helsinki City Council), Roman Schatz (journalist and writer, Helsinki), Eetu Viren (theorist, activist of  Vapaa liikkuvuus, Helsinki), Vladimir Tomevski (architect, Helsinki), Damian Le Bas (activist, artist, playwright, UK), Panu Lehtovuori (architect, professor of urban studies, Helsinki), Gareth Rice (social thinker, writer, urban political economist, University of Helsinki), Rena Rädle (artist, activist, Serbia) and other invited guests.
Moderator: Vladan Jeremić, author of the project Under the Bridge – Helsinki

Introduction to the project and welcome speech: Curator Marita Muukkonen, HIAP

The public discussion The Housing Agenda / Under the Bridge – Helsinki aims to provide concrete concepts for developing sustainable options for Roma migrant workers’ housing. The invited architects, politicians, writers, artists and Roma activists from Finland and the Balkans will reflect on and discuss various viewpoints, insights and proposals, and highlight their relationship with the wider social and political context in Finland and the European Union.

The participants will look at the heritage of social housing and workers’ housing, and at modernist urban planning in Finland. How can experiences gained here be rethought and updated? One intended outcome of the discussion and the goal of The Housing Agenda is to draft an overall concept for the development of communal flats for precarious migrant workers in the main cities in the EU and on the level of individual states, and to acknowledge properly the precarious working conditions of Roma and other migrant workers.

The public discussion at the Ateneum Art Museum will be initiated by artist and cultural worker Vladan Jeremić, as part of his project carried out during a production residency under the HIAP–Helsinki International Artist Programme in 2011.

Vladan Jeremić is an artist, curator and cultural worker. He was born in 1975 in Belgrade, Serbia, where he lives and works. In his artistic practice he researches the intersection between contemporary art and political activism. The current focus of his artistic research is the significance of modernist urbanism today, and the emerging social movements, such as Roma emancipation movements in Europe. Jeremić holds an MFA degree from the University of Arts in Belgrade. Since 2002, he has worked with Rena Rädle as an artist duo. They are the founders of Biro Beograd, an association that provides a platform for critical practice that goes beyond conventional forms of contemporary art and cultural and political activism. Jeremić has had solo exhibitions in Belgrade, Paris, Hamburg, Helsinki, Trondheim, and Novi Sad, along with many group exhibitions. His works are in the collections of MUDAM, Luxemburg; the Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; and Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid.

The Housing Agenda / Under the Bridge – Helsinki event is being staged as part of the Paths Crossing project supported by the European Commission fund for Education and Culture and coordinated by HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme.

Support and consultancy:  Ateneum Art Museum, The Culture for All Service, World Communal Heritage, Perpetual Pavilion.

 

With the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.